How To Spot And Deal With Cracks

A slight and natural movement of the building or a symptom of a wider problem? Find out whether the cracks in and on the outside of your home need further investigation.

Why Do Cracks Appear?

No one likes to see cracks appearing in their walls, but most will be just surface disturbances of the plaster caused by your home expanding and contracting naturally (or breathing as it is sometimes known).

New homes can be plagued in the early months of occupation by minor cracks caused by the home settling. For the most part these cracks, though often unsightly, are harmless and can be decorated over.

However, if the cracks persist in reappearing or get noticeably wider, it is worth getting to the bottom of what is causing them.

What Does A Crack Tell You?

A crack is actually the visible symptom of a possible problem, and not the problem in itself. And its seriousness and diagnosis depends on the materials with which your walls are made. Plasterboard walls, for instance, are often subject to hairline cracking where sheets of plasterboard have been butted up to each other too tightly. However, the solution is easily tackled by a DIYer (by making the existing joints wider and filling with a soft plaster).

However, with more serious cracks - such as one in a brick or block wall that has been filled more than once, but keeps reopening - may signify a serious problem. Often, there is no one definitive cause for a crack. Sometimes, the minor changes in the temperature and moisture within building materials can be enough to cause hairline fractures in a surface. Vibrations from traffic, particularly if your house is over a ridge, can cause problems, too.

The most likely are causes of cracks include shrinkage of wall materials (such as timber or concrete blockwork) and expansion (of clay bricks). However, cracks can also be caused by corrosion (of wall ties or lintels) and foundation movement (including subsidence, heave or settlement).